Ed Payne: “Unionist Naming of Mississippi Children, 1861-1880”

In December of 1867, former Knight Band member and staunch Unionist Jasper Collins named his first son born after the Civil War, Ulysses Sherman Collins. Federal forces had won the war but the victory failed to sway the hearts and minds of most white Southerners. So naming a child in honor of the Union’s two most successful—and reviled—generals was a bold act of defiance. The incident provides clear evidence of Jasper Collins’s steadfast adherence to his beliefs. Given this, I wanted to learn how many other Mississippi children were given Unionist names. For comparison purposes, I also searched for children who bore the names of Confederate leaders of comparable stature.

Naming children after political figures occurred with far greater frequency in the 19th century than in modern times. A search through the Mississippi census of 1870, for example, yields 172 males named “Benjamin F.,” 337 named “Andrew J.,” and fully 964 with the given name of “George W.” These patterns clearly suggest a tendency on the part of families to pay homage to early American luminaries such as Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Jackson, and George Washington. Even flinty New Englander Daniel Webster apparently garnered enough respect for 53 Mississippians to have named their sons “Daniel W.”

For purposes of this inquiry, I researched male children residing in Mississippi at the time of the 1870 and 1880 federal household censuses. The 1870 census search was restricted to males born between 1861 and the enumeration date of June 1, 1870. Similarly, the 1880 census analysis dealt with those born from 1870 through June 1, 1880. In evaluating naming patterns, my working assumption was that those given names which resembled the names of eminent Civil War figures in most cases did reflect such a connection. The assumption that this was generally true should not be construed as a belief that connections exist in every case. For example, in compiling my data, I counted each “Robert E.” as connoting a child named after Robert E. Lee. Yet a review of the 1860 census, two years before General Lee rose to fame, shows that 20 Mississippi children born in the period from 1850 to 1860 happened to be named “Robert E.”

A second fact, which came as something of a surprise, is that only a relatively small percent of Mississippi children born during the study period were named after Civil War heroes, Confederate or Union. The two censuses include some 330,000 Mississippi male children born within the 1861 to 1880 timeframe (171,000 black, 138,000 white, and 21,000 mulattoes). Of these, only 1,695 (0 .5%) bear names that seem emblematic of the six Civil War figures analyzed.

Table 1 provides a count of given names coinciding with those of the selected Confederate and Union leaders. Several variations of each name were searched using Ancestry.com. For example, variations for Abraham Lincoln searched were: “Abe L.”, “Abraham L.”, and “Lincoln” (“Abraham” alone was not counted). The given name “Ulysses” (with various misspellings) was considered to be associated with U.S. Grant. The abbreviations “R.E.L.”, “U.S.G.” and “W.T.S.” (i.e. William Tecumseh Sherman) were also searched, although only instances of “R.E.L.” were found. However, due to their commonality, “Davis” and “Lee” without supporting initials were not counted. An exception to this general pattern was Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. Since “Thomas J.” coincides with popular naming of children after Thomas Jefferson, only given names incorporating “Stonewall” were counted.

These tallies likely include some duplication of those children born January-May 1870 and still alive in 1880, who fell within the search parameters for both censuses. Please bear in mind that my goal was not rigorous accuracy, but rather to obtain some indication of the relative frequency with which these names were bestowed.

1861 –

1870

1870 –

1880

Confederate name

Blk

Wh

Blk

Wh

Jefferson Davis variations

46

168

6

22

Robert E. Lee variations

13

115

22

206

Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson variations

21

24

5

13

80

307

33

241

Blk

Wh

Confederate name totals (1861-1880)

113

548

1861 –

1870

1870 –

1880

Unionist name

Blk

Wh

Blk

Wh

Abraham Lincoln variations

50

5

53

0

Ulysses Grant variations

219

22

404

9

Wm T Sherman variations

139

12

115

6

408

39

572

15

Blk

Wh

Union name totals (1861-1880)

980

54

Table 1: Count of the naming of Mississippi children for Civil War eminences, 1861-1880. The counts for those identified as mulattoes have been combined with those listed as black.

Table 1 indicates that among whites, names reflective of the selected Confederates occurred 10 times more frequently than those associated with the Union leaders. Newly freed slaves, less restricted after 1865 in naming (or re-naming) their children—but still in large measure economically dependent on the white population—nevertheless chose names allied with the Union figures 8.5 times more than Confederate ones.

The census search yielded a list of 54 white male Mississippi children who appear to have been named after Lincoln, Grant, or Sherman. Their number is small but what seems remarkable, to paraphrase Samuel Johnson, is that they exist at all. And their existence raises other questions: were their parents Southerners or Carpetbaggers; in what areas of the state did they reside; and during what interval within the 1861 to 1880 birth range was Unionist naming most frequent? The census information compiled in Table 2 provides some interesting answers.

Cnt

Census

YoB

Name

County

Region

Self

Fthr

Mthr

1

1870

1869

Ulysses Atkinson

Leake

PB

MS

AL

AL

2

1870

1868

Sherman Beech

Jones

GC

MS

AL

MS

3

1870

1868

Grant Bibb

Monroe

PB

MS

MS

MS

4

1870

1869

Lincoln Bosman

Tippah

N

MS

SC

TN

5

1870

1864

Lincoln Brannon

Clarke

PB

MS

n/a

MS

6

1870

1868

Sherman Bunnsaw

Jasper

GC

MS

MS

MS

7

1880

1872

Ulysses Butler

Itawamba

N

AL

AL

MS

8

1870

1861

Lincoln Bynum

Jones

GC

MS

MS

MS

9

1880

1870

Sherman Cawley

Jones

GC

MS

MS

MS

10

1870

1868

Ulysses S. Collins

Jones

GC

MS

MS

MS

11

1880

1880

Oaker Grant Conlee

Pontotac

N

MS

MS

GA

12

1870

1869

Ulyssis Coon

Monroe

PB

MS

AL

MS

13

1870

1870

Ulyssus Cotton

Carroll

D

MS

MS

MS

14

1870

1868

Sherman L. Davis

Rankin

SC

MS

SC

SC

15

1870

1869

Ulysses G. Dexter

Tishomingo

N

MS

Engl

TN

16

1880

1876

Sherman Dunaway

Lincoln

SC

MS

MS

MS

17

1880

1880

C. Sherman Eddy

Hinds

SC

MS

OH

AL

18

1880

1874

U.S. Ford

Lee

N

MS

NC

MS

19

1880

1879

Sherman George

Grenada

N

MS

Grmy

MS

20

1870

1865

Ulyssus Hall

Carroll

D

MS

AL

AL

21

1870

1866

Ulyssus Hamlin

Tippah

N

IL

TN

SC

22

1870

1869

U.S. Grant Hillhouse

Calhoun

N

MS

SC

MS

23

1880

1872

James Grant Hutson

Tishomingo

N

MS

TN

TN

24

1870

1870

Sherman Jammison

Itawamba

N

MS

DE

AL

25

1870

1869

Ulysses S. King

Marion

GC

MS

MS

MS

26

1880

1879

Sherman Kinkaed

Yazoo

D

MS

Irelnd

MS

27

1870

1863

Abraham L. Lee

Jones

GC

MS

n/a

MS

28

1870

1865

Sherman Lee Lominick

Tippah

N

MS

SC

SC

29

1880

1872

Grant Luten

Grenada

N

IN

IN

IN

30

1880

1880

Grant McDade

Kemper

PB

MS

AL

MS

31

1870

1869

William Grant McDowel

Oktibbeha

PB

MS

n/a

AL

32

1870

1868

Grant McEwin

Pike

SC

MS

MS

MS

33

1870

1866

Grant W. Millan

Newton

PB

MS

SC

MS

34

1870

1863

Grant Nelson

Holmes

D

MS

VA

VA

35

1870

1870

Sherman Parasot

Holmes

D

MS

n/a

IN

36

1870

1870

Grant Perry

Chickasaw

PB

TN

TN

TN

37

1880

1873

William Grant Pritchard

Pontotac

N

TN

SC

AL

38

1870

1865

Grant Robinson

Hinds

SC

MS

KY

MS

39

1870

1868

N. Grant Shumpert

Itawamba

N

MS

SC

MS

40

1870

1866

Sherman Sivilly

Harrison

SC

MS

GA

MS

41

1870

1865

Sherman Smith

Jackson

GC

MS

MS

MS

42

1870

1869

Sherman Spence

Pike

SC

MS

Grmy

Grmy

43

1870

1869

Ulyssus Sulivan

Monroe

PB

MS

MS

MS

44

1870

1865

Sherman Swords

Pontotac

N

MS

TN

NC

45

1870

1866

Grant Tacket

Calhoun

N

AL

AL

TN

46

1880

1878

Grant Taylor

Alcorn

N

MS

MS

TN

47

1870

1866

Grant Thompson

Lowndes

PB

MS

VA

MS

48

1870

1869

U.S. Grant Townsen

Lincoln

SC

MS

LA

LA

49

1870

1864

Sherman Walden

Prentiss

N

MS

NC

NC

50

1880

1878

Grant L. Walker

Chickasaw

PB

MS

AL

MS

51

1870

1866

Sherman Welborn

Jones

GC

MS

MS

MS

52

1870

1865

Ulepes Grant Willborn

Jasper

GC

MS

n/a

MS

53

1870

1870

Abraham L. William

Choctaw

PB

MS

NC

GA

54

1880

1878

Sherman Wilson

Warren

SC

MS

TN

LA

Table 2: List of Mississippi white males born 1861-1880 having possible Unionist names. Based on Ancestry.com searches of the 1870 and 1880 U.S. Censuses.

To begin, the large majority of children given Unionist names were born into families with Southern roots. Of the 54 listed, 48 (88.9%) were born in Mississippi. All but two (96.3%) were born in states that comprised the Confederacy. The only exceptions were Ulyssus Hamlin (born in Illinois) and Grant Luten (born in Indiana). Among the fathers, 14 (25.9%) were Mississippi natives with an additional 27 (totaling 75.9%) hailed from other secession states. Only four came from states outside the former Confederacy (one each from: Delaware, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio) while four were born in foreign countries. (The birthplace of five fathers was not recorded.) Data for mothers shows even stronger Southern heritage: 29 (53.7%) were born in Mississippi and another 22 (totaling 94.4%) in other Confederate states. Of the remaining three, two came from Indiana and one was born in Germany.

The census location of children shows the greatest concentration of Unionist names tended to occur, unsurprisingly, in those areas of Mississippi where the cotton economy was weakest and war time discontent against Confederate authority the strongest. For purposes of analysis, census counties listed on Table 2 were grouped into five state regions: North (N), Delta (D), Pine Belt (PB), South Central (SC), and Gulf Coast (GC). These are derived from the state’s current tourist regions—which correlate with accepted geographic and cultural areas of the state (see Map). Note that in this division Jones County and the surrounding “piney woods” area fall within the Gulf Coast region.

The Northern region of the state had the greatest number of Unionist names with 18 (33.3%) followed by the Pine Belt with 12 (22.2%) and the Gulf Coast with 10 (18.5%). Among the individual counties, Jones had the highest count with six. The counties of Itawamba (N), Tippah (N), and Monroe (PB) had three each.

The peak period for bestowing names with Unionist associations took place in the years 1869-70 (16 names) followed by 1865-6 (12 names). Of the 54 individuals listed, 40 (74%) were born between 1861 and 1870. Only 14 names (26%) date from the later period of 1871 to 1880, when Federal Reconstruction policies waned and Southern Democrats began to reassert political control.

It bears repeating that a given name of “Grant” or “Sherman” by itself is not proof of a Unionist connection. On the other hand, it seems equally relevant to suggest that families with strong Confederate loyalties might have shied away from names tainted by their association with despised Union leaders. Whatever the linkages or lack thereof, children who bore unpopular names doubtless came home with blackened eyes or busted lips as Civil War animosities carried over into playgrounds.

Taking the six children in Jones County with “Union names” as a sample, what can be discovered in researching their fathers? Let’s return to our starting point: Ulysses Sherman Collins. Civil War records, pension testimony, and newspaper articles all concur that his father Jasper came from a family of Unionists. In 1862, however, passage of Confederate conscription laws impelled him and several relatives to enlist in Co. F of the 7th Battalion MS Infantry. Jasper participated in the battles of Corinth and Iuka, but deserted in October 1862 after stating his opposition to a newly enacted Confederate law granting military exemptions to slave owners with 20 or more slaves. One year later, he joined with Newton Knight in the formation of the Knight Band.

After the war Jasper Collins repeatedly stated that his course of action was the correct one. Whether admiring or excusing his forthrightness, Jones County neighbors elected him to the county Board of Supervisors. Upon his death in 1913, the local paper published a laudatory, if somewhat evasive, obituary. His son Ulysses (‘Lyss) found neither his name nor his family’s Unionism a barrier to being elected, like his father, to the Board of Supervisors and later to the position of Chancery Clerk. He died an honored and respected member of his community in 1941.
The father of Sherman Cawley is identified through census records as Franklin P. Cawley (aka Corley). Frank P. Cawley joined Co. C of the 37th MS Infantry on March 8, 1862 but was listed as absent without leave from March 11, 1863 until May 11, 1864. This, of course, overlaps with the most active period for the Knight Band and the spring 1864 campaign by C.S.A. Col. Robert Lowry that rounded up a number of the deserters. The Knight Band rosters list “B.F. Cawley” as a member, but this is not definitive proof he was the same person. Franklin Cawley returned to his unit and was captured at Nashville on December 15, 1864. Imprisoned in Camp Douglas, Illinois, he proved more fortunate than some of his Piney Wood comrades in surviving the harsh conditions there until released in June 1865. Both Franklin P. Cawley and his son Sherman were last found on the 1880 census.

Abraham Lincoln Lee appears on the 1870 census as a seven year-old in the household Delphine Lee. Working backwards to the 1860 census, his father turned out to be James W. Lee. Although James W. Lee was of conscription age (born circa 1835), no records have been found of him serving in the Confederate military. On April 13, 1864, however, he joined the ranks of Piney Woods men who travelled south and enlisted in the Union 1st New Orleans Infantry. He was assigned to Co. D and served until his death from typhoid fever on 28 July 1864. His son Abraham grew up to be a Jones County farmer who, like Ulysses S. Collins, died in 1941.

Lincoln Bynum’s single census listing is in 1870 as a nine year-old. Thus it seems he was given the name “Lincoln” in 1861, at the very outset of the war. No military records have been found definitely referring to Lincoln’s father, Hiram James Bynum. Nor does his name appear on the Knight Band rosters. But an inquiry into his family connections reveals a man living amid Unionists.

Hiram Bynum’s familial Unionist connections can be summarized as follows: 1) sister Lydia married Simeon Collins, an older brother of Jasper, in 1839. Simeon and several of his sons appear on the Knight Band rosters. 2) Another of Hiram’s sisters, Sarah, married William Holifield (aka Holyfield). He, too, appears on the renegade rosters and, following the Lowry campaign, enlisted in the 1st New Orleans Infantry. 3) Hiram’s first cousin Prentice M. Bynum is found on the Knight Band rosters and also subsequently joined the 1st New Orleans Infantry. 4) First cousin, Tapley Bynum, rode with the Knight Band and was killed by Lowry’s forces. 5) First cousin Dicey E. Bynum married William H. Mauldin, another of those who enlisted in the 1st New Orleans Infantry in the spring of 1864. He died of typhoid pneumonia the following December. Lincoln Bynum apparently died in childhood. Hiram Bynum is said to have died circa 1883 in Jasper County.

Sherman Welborn was a son of Thomas Newton Welborn and grandson of Younger Welborn (1805-1880). In Free State of Jones, Victoria Bynum quoted a descendent as stating that, although of conscription age, the sons of Younger Welborn refused to join the Confederate army. No military records have been located for Thomas but, as in the case with Hiram Bynum, an examination of family connections uncovers Unionist activities. In the wake of the Lowry campaign, Thomas’s older brother William and younger brother Tolbert made their way to Louisiana and joined the Unionist 1st New Orleans Infantry. Tolbert Welborn died of disease during his enlistment while his brother William was discharged in June 1866 and later drew a pension for his service. Thomas Welborn died in 1917 and his son Sherman, a farmer, in 1929.

Only in the instance of Sherman Beech has a Unionist link not been found. His father was Thomas Beech (aka Beach). A Thomas Beech who appears to match the parentage of Sherman enlisted in Co. B of the 25th Alabama Infantry on May 15, 1862 and was given an unconditional discharge due to illness that same November. Sherman Beech is last found in Jackson County on the 1880 census, while his father is reported to have lived until 1922.

Thus of six children seeming to have Unionist names, four had fathers who took part in Unionist activities or else had close relatives so engaged. There is a possible link in one case (Sherman Cawley) and insufficient information for another (Sherman Beech).

One final observation: some families may have given a child a Unionist name and then thought better of it. While searching the 1930 Ancestry census transcriptions for Ulysses Collins by his given name, a record was found for Ulysses Pearson Walters. His name had not appeared among those compiled in the searches of the 1870 and 1880 censuses. Working backward, I found him to be a son of Richard Herrin Walters (1841-1911). Coincidentally or not, the mother of Richard H. Walters was a member of the Unionist Collins family. On the 1870 census (Smith County) Ulysses Pearson Walters was listed simply as “Pierson Walter” and in 1880 (Jones County) as “E.P. Walters.” It was not untilthe 1900 census, as a married adult of 28 living in Laurel, Mississippi, that he reported his full name as “Ulysses P. Walters.” When he died in 1947, his gravestone listed him as “U.P. Walters.”

Despite this modest sampling of names and the current lack of evidence that all those on it are, in fact, indicative of Unionist sympathies, it’s my hope that the names on Table 2 will provide some basis for further inquiries into Unionist sentiment found in the heart of the Deep South.

Resources utilized: Ancestry.com; Footnote.com; Free State of Jones: Mississippi’s longest Civil War by Victoria Bynum; Echoes from our Past by the Jones County Genealogical and Historical Society; and The Bynum and Herrington Connections by Ruby Bynum Sanders.

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Sharp eyed readers might notice that while the text cites Ulysses Sherman Collins as born in Dec 1867, Table 2 lists his year of birth as 1868. In Table 2, I decided to use the year of birth extrapolated by Ancestry.com from the age on the census. This was done even in those cases where a slightly different birth year was cited in genealogical sources. The purpose was to allow interested readers to be able to use Ancestry.com to search out any of the individuals listed by name, county of residence, and (census extrapolated) year of birth.

I absolutely love Vikki’s historical blog! Lots of praise from historical reviewers has come her way and all very much deserved. In addition to Vikki’s own material, I am in awe of the talents and writing skills of others who pull together complicated material, documents which adds considerable interest. I’m taking about you ED PAYNE! You too, are one terrific writer and researcher. Like Wow! I can only imagine the time and resourcefulness that was also involved in your latest post. Thank you! Thank you! I so value your own writing skills, insights and on-going contributions.

Your peer, I am NOT!!! (Note here: My lifetime achievement was having turned in more book reports than any other kid in my sixth grade class.)

One comment that I would like to add. (Another side note).
While I am no longer involved in genealogy, there was a time when together my cousin and I spent thousands of hours poring over census records and other documents as related to our Wilburn and allied family ancestors.

Consider this to be from the top of my head. By poring over various and sundry 1850, in KY TN and VA. nearly every Wilburn family that we collectively uncovered showed a male child named Andrew J Wilburn. Nearly always this was a middle child. Another name that continued to pop up was Benjamin F Wilburn….

Another note: My Wilburn ancestors are not related to the Welborns (Younger Welborn and those related to him as noted in Jones Co MS.) DNA tests show three distinct Welborn/Wilburn and varied spelling emigrant lines.

Those who are related to Younger Welborn are believed to be descendants of Edward Welbourn who died in Baltimore Co MD in 1721.

And lastly, according to a group of researchers who have tracked Barack Obama’s ancestors, this group shows him sharing consanguinity with the Welborns of Jones Co MS.

Thanks, Joyce. I so appreciate all the comments of Renegade South’s readers, who have contributed a wealth of historical and family information, and I don’t know what I’d do without guest columnists like Ed Payne!

Recently I happened across another instance of Unionist naming. The person in question was Ulysses S. Grant Creel, born in Lauderdale Co, MS in 1867. He was the son of Wesley and Jerusha Creel. The couple can be found on the 1860 federal census of Lauderdale Co, MS, but I could not locate them on the 1870 census. In 1880 Wesley’s household, again in Lauderdale Co, was enumerated twice: once with a 12 year-old son listed as “Ulissus Creel” and secondly as “U.S. Grant Creel.”

U.S. Creel married Mollie Arrington in 1888 and moved to AL where he died in 1939.

At least four of Wesley’s sons served in the Confederacy: Berry, Ira, and Thomas (46th MS) and Tyra (14th MS). I have thus far failed to uncover any Unionist links that might explain why Wesley Clark chose to name a son born in the Deep South in 1867 after Ulysses S. Grant.

Ed, I am a direct descendant of this branch of Creels and have researched a lot of information on their Civil War history. There were many family members, fathers, sons, brothers, uncles, cousins who all served in the civil War, some dying in battle and some dying in POW camps. Your story provides a little insight as to Ulysses’ naming. I have always been curious about it.

This is just great! Ulysses Sherman Collins is my great-grandfather. My mother was a Collins from Meridian. I just found out about Ulysses Sherman a couple of years ago, since that branch of the family wasn’t emphasized in our learning about family history. So now I know a lot more about this very interesting branch of the family.